Wed, Nov 26, 2008 - Page 1 News List

‘Warming ties’ fuel cross-strait hot air balloon adventure

AFP , BEIJING

A group of adventurers plans to take advantage of warming ties between China and Taiwan and become the first to navigate a hot air balloon between the two neighbors, Chinese state media said yesterday.

The flight across the Taiwan Strait is scheduled for July or August next year, Xinhua news agency said, citing the adventurers involved.

“Warming cross-strait relations make the flight possible,” the report quoted Du Jin’en of China’s Aero Sports Federation as saying.

It will be first hot air balloon flight across the 135km-wide Strait, and is expected to take between three and seven hours depending on wind conditions, Xinhua said.

Exchanges between the two sides have increased after China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected in March.

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